Virus has impact on deer population

The beginning of a four-day weekend, and the start of a 15-day unofficial holiday, began this morning for outdoor enthusiasts and sportsmen.

By Jef RietsmaJournal Correspondent

The beginning of a four-day weekend, and the start of a 15-day unofficial holiday, began this morning for outdoor enthusiasts and sportsmen.

Whether the time spent devoted to opening day of firearms season is successful could — more than ever — depend on where deer hunters plan to stalk their prey.

Epizootic hemorrhagic disease is playing a major factor in deer population across the southern third of the state. Michigan Department of Natural Resources officials said herds in St. Joseph and Cass counties have been hit especially hard by EHD.

Steve Chadwick, wildlife division supervisor for the DNR’s Southwest Region, lives in Flowerfield Township and typically hunts on a 50-acre field not far from his home.

Based on what he has noted so far this fall, Chadwick said he won’t even bother hunting in the area.

“My trail camera hasn’t shown a thing since October,” he said, noting the quantity of dead deer from the EHD virus has had a varying impact on deer populations, from substantial to hardly at all. “Meanwhile, there’s an area in Kalamazoo County where I hunt and there’s so many deer, you wouldn’t even know there’s a disease anywhere in the state.”

Chadwick said despite EHD’s impact, he will also try his luck at a state game site in Cass County, where there may be stronger numbers than in St. Joseph County’s Flowerfield and Fabius townships specifically.

30 counties, 13,000 cases

About 600,000 hunters are expected to hunt during firearms season, and the deer-population situation in Southwest Michigan is consistent with what Chadwick has heard from other regions where EHD has been prevalent.

Working from the DNR’s regional office in Plainwell, Chadwick said the state agency has been alerted to 13,000 cases of EHD-infected deer deaths over a 30-county region in Michigan.

The culprit is a fly-like insect called a midge. A midge bite causes a deer to suffer and die from internal bleeding.

The virus is fast-acting, often claiming a victim within 10 to 14 days and leaving many dead along rivers and bodies of water, where infected deer ventured to quench a thirst exacerbated by the internal bleeding.

Chadwick said with a few heavy frosts already in the books, midge flies are no longer a problem this fall. He said a mild winter, followed by a warm spring and excessively dry summer all contributed to an environment favorable to a prosperous midge fly population. A repeat of the weather pattern in 2013 could yield the same result on Michigan’s deer populations, he said.

“If the ground doesn’t freeze hard over the winter and the midge larvae survive, there’s a chance we could see the problem again,” he said.

Chadwick said he has no estimate how many deer have succumbed to EHD.

According to what he has been told by a number of bow hunters, the hardest-hit areas have seen deer populations decrease by as much as 90 percent.

Jim Fassett of Park Township said he doesn’t doubt what Chadwick has heard. A longtime hunter, Fassett said he has seen EHD’s impact firsthand in the Parkville area.

He has 13 acres at his residence, which borders the Portage River.

Fassett also hunts on in-laws’ property in Fabius Township, where he has heard populations are down by about 80 percent compared to 2011.

“Down by the river I’ve counted about 30 dead, including five I saw in the last month within a relatively short distance and they were just decomposing … even the predators that would normally feed on them know something is wrong because they haven’t even touched the deer,” Fassett said.

Fellow hunters have told him about a stretch of the Flowerfield Creek littered with 20 dead deer and nearly two dozen more alongside Rocky River.

St. Joseph County drain commissioner Jeff Wenzel said he has seen his share of dead deer near of water. One thing he has noticed is the smell of the dead deer is acutely malodorous.

“Dead deer don’t smell too good to begin with, but I was over at Doobie Falls in Fabius Township and the dead deer smell was so strong and so bad, I had to get out of there,” Wenzel said.

More selective

Fassett, 52, said some hunters have said they are going to be more selective about what they shoot. Chadwick has heard similar comments.

“It’s a bit of a quandary, for sure. Do you take down a doe or pass and wait for a buck?” Fassett said. “The doe you pass on will probably be giving birth next year and they’re needed to keep the population up.”